Former Bexar County Precinct 2 Constable Michelle Barrientes Vela is suing Bexar County and two law enforcement officers involved in the investigation that led to her arrest and criminal prosecution, alleging they relied on false or misleading information to build and advance the case against her. The officers are contesting her claims and asking a federal judge to dismiss the case against them.
Barrientes Vela filed two separate federal civil rights lawsuits in September, two years after her convictions for tampering with evidence and official oppression were reversed in 2024 when the Eighth Court of Appeals rendered judgments of acquittal.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest criminal appeals court in the state, subsequently declined to review the case in February 2025.
The lawsuits mark the latest chapter in a years-long legal and political saga that began with the 2019 search of Vela’s Precinct 2 constable’s office and eventually resulted in her removal from office.
Across both lawsuits, Barrientes Vela alleges the investigation and prosecution caused lasting damage. She says she suffered reputational and professional harm, lost employment and career opportunities and endured years of restrictions stemming from her arrest and prosecution.
During Barrientes Vela’s attempt to return to elected office earlier this year, she cast her candidacy in the context of her criminal case and subsequent acquittal. At a January candidate forum, she described herself as someone who had experienced an “abuse of power” and said her return to politics was about continuing to fight what she called an unjust system.
Barrientes Vela finished second in the four-way March primary for Texas House District 125 with 34.4% of the vote, advancing to a runoff against San Antonio ISD teacher and labor leader Adrian Reyna, who received 39.1%. Reyna defeated Barrientes Vela in the May runoff.
Lawsuit against the officers
The first lawsuit, filed Sept. 8, names Texas Ranger Bradley Freeman and Bexar County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Rios Escobedo. Barrientes Vela alleges the two law enforcement officers knowingly or recklessly passed along materially false information that was used against her.
The allegations against Escobedo center on an April 2019 dispute at Rodriguez Park, where Barrientes Vela’s constable’s office provided security during Easter weekend.
Escobedo wrote in a Bexar County Sheriff’s Office report that he was dispatched to the park and encountered a man who said Vela had harassed him. Barrientes Vela’s lawsuit alleges dispatch records and other evidence do not establish that Escobedo was dispatched to the park or personally met with the man.
Barrientes Vela’s allegations against Freeman focus largely on his handling of records from her constable’s office and a September 2019 affidavit he used to obtain a search warrant.
She alleges Freeman’s search warrant affidavit incorporated Escobedo’s account of the Rodriguez Park incident despite contradictory information. Barrientes Vela argues the affidavit that secured the search warrant would not have established probable cause had the alleged false statements been removed and omitted information included.
Barrientes Vela alleges that Freeman improperly conflated different types of financial records and omitted information that undermined allegations that records had been concealed, altered or destroyed.
Freeman and Escobedo are both accused of unreasonable seizure through legal process and deliberate fabrication or use of false evidence. Barrientes Vela is seeking compensatory and punitive damages from the officers but does not specify an amount.
Freeman moved to dismiss the claims against him on Oct. 16, arguing that Barrientes Vela sued too late.
His lawyers with the Texas Attorney General’s Office argue that the two-year deadline to bring her claims began running with the 2019 search of her office, years before she filed suit in September of 2026.
Freeman also disputes that he violated her constitutional rights, arguing that his affidavit did not materially mislead the judge who approved the search and that other information independently supported probable cause.
The Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code sets a two-year window from the date of the incident for most civil suits, including personal injury civil lawsuits to be filed.
Barrientes Vela, who is representing herself, counters that her claims extend beyond the office search to allegedly misleading investigative information that contributed to her indictment, arrest and prosecution. In an Oct. 21 response, she argues that the deadline for those claims began when her convictions were reversed and judgments of acquittal were entered in October 2024, putting her lawsuit within the two-year window.
Freeman’s lawyers rejected that distinction in an Oct. 23 reply, arguing that his alleged conduct concerned a search warrant and was too indirectly connected to her later prosecution to support the later deadline.
Freeman’s legal team also asserts qualified immunity, a legal protection that generally shields government officials from personal liability for damages unless their conduct violated a clearly established constitutional or statutory right. They contend Barrientes Vela’s allegations do not meet that standard.
In an Oct. 29 filing, Escobedo also denies the claims he fabricated a firsthand report, deliberately or recklessly made false representations, or caused materially false evidence to be used against Barrientes Vela. He also disputes that his conduct caused her alleged injuries. He also asserts the same claims of qualified immunity.
Escobedo asks the court to dismiss the claims against him or award Barrientes Vela nothing and award him the taxable costs and attorney’s fees associated with the case.
Lawsuit against the county
A second lawsuit filed Sept. 18 targets Bexar County itself. Barrientes Vela alleges county records contradicted portions of the narrative surrounding the Rodriguez Park dispute, including details about security arrangements at the park and whether sheriff’s deputies encountered her there.
According to the lawsuit, the dispute began on Easter Sunday when Jesus Reyes arrived at a pavilion he had reserved for a family gathering, only to find Barrientes Vela and her family occupying it. A park employee had mistakenly told Barrientes Vela that Reyes canceled his reservation, and her family moved after the error was discovered.
The disagreement continued when Barrientes Vela confronted Reyes about security for his gathering, where alcohol was being consumed.
However, Bexar County had also arranged and paid for deputies to provide general security throughout Rodriguez Park during the busy Easter weekend. Reyes believed those deputies were already providing security for his event and questioned why he needed to pay separately.
Under county rules, private pavilion events involving alcohol or at least 50 guests required additional security paid for by the person reserving the space.
Reyes later testified that he felt intimidated by Barrientes Vela and her deputies and paid $300 for security. Barrientes Vela maintained the payment was required under county rules.
In her lawsuit, Barrientes Vela argues county officials had records distinguishing the county-funded park security from the security required for private events but nevertheless adopted and publicly reinforced a misleading account of the confrontation.
The complaint points to statements and actions by several former and current county officials, including then-County Judge Nelson Wolff, Commissioner Justin Rodriguez and Sheriff Javier Salazar. None are individually named as defendants in the suit.
Following the September 2019 search of Barrientes Vela’s office, the lawsuit states the three participated in public statements about the search and her removal from office.
The lawsuit also cites a May 2019 recording of Rodriguez Park foreman Henry Guerrero, who Barrientes Vela alleges expressed hostility toward her before Freeman formally opened his investigation. The complaint alleges Guerrero subsequently became a source of information concerning the park dispute and that county officials had access to records contradicting portions of the allegations against her.
To hold the county itself liable, Barrientes Vela argues that the alleged constitutional violations went beyond the actions of individual employees. Her lawsuit alleges Bexar County policymakers knew of contradictory information or disregarded the need to verify it while adopting, communicating or ratifying the narrative used against her.
A spokesperson for Bexar County said the county does not comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit against the county seeks compensatory and nominal damages but, unlike the case against Freeman and Escobedo, does not seek punitive damages.
Barrientes Vela has requested jury trials for both cases; they remain pending in federal court.
